Author Profile

Shannon Blosser

Shannon Blosser worked as a staff writer at the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy from 2004 to 2007, covering higher education issues across North Carolina and the nation.

Blosser began his career as a journalist working as a sports and news writer in West Virginia and North Carolina. Blosser graduated from West Virginia University in 2002 with a B.S. in journalism.

Articles by Shannon Blosser

Drafts give glimpses into higher education report

Jul 20, 2006 ·

Higher education institutions in the United States must improve in “a drastic way,” according to a draft version of the commission that has been given the task of assessing American higher education and its future. The final version of the report is expected sometime in August, but even the draft has sparked great interest.

The draft has been circulating since the end of June and is seen as a glimpse into the recommendations that will be included in the final version. The report is being produced by a national committee initiated by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Among the members of the commission is former North Carolina governor Jim Hunt.

A second draft has begun to circulate. Missing from the second draft are some of the more hard-hitting criticisms of the current higher education system.

From the home office in Chapel Hill, the top 15 pork barrel higher education projects

Jul 6, 2006 ·

At some point today, legislators will give final approval to the budget compromise that was hatched out before the Fourth of July weekend. It marks the end of the budget process that began in May and extended just days past the start of the 2007 fiscal year.

Like any governmental budget, this one has enough pork to make a pig farmer smile. This year’s higher education budget contains many generous helpings.

In honor of the passage of the state budget, the Pope Center unveils its list of the top 15 pork barrel projects. We determined projects for the list based on two questions. Is the project really needed? Should it be privately funded? While some of the projects in the list seem worthwhile, it would be better if they were funded through voluntary contributions.

So without further adoo and in true David Letterman style, from the home office on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, here is this year’s “Top 15 Higher Education Pork Barrel Projects.”

College Board misguided on student debt proposals

Jun 15, 2006 ·

Every year as students graduate and enter the workforce, the media is prone to write stories that chronicle the lives of selected students as they struggle with student loan repayments. They usually write sad pieces on how loan payments make it difficult for students to live as they’d wish.

A recent study by the College Board entitled “How Much Debt Is Too Much? Defining Benchmarks for Manageable Student Debt,” by Sandy Baum of Skidmore College and Saul Schwartz of Carleton University, jumps into that issue. The authors, while finding that only a small minority of students have trouble managing their student debts, suggests several “policy” changes that they believe should be made.

The body of the paper consists of the authors’ analysis of an appropriate “benchmark” for how much debt it’s prudent for students to have. Their concern is that with too much debt, former students will have to sacrifice or delay other major things in life, such as home ownership. After much analysis and discussion, they say that “repayment will rarely be a problem if payments are below 7 percent of income and that few students would be well advised to exceed 17 percent.”

Cleveland introduces bill to overturn scholarship provision

May 26, 2006 ·

RALEIGH – A state legislator is calling for a controversial budget provision seen by many as a gift to athletic booster organizations to be overturned before the costs get out of hand.

Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow, said that a budget provision in last year’s budget that allowed UNC institutions to consider out-of-state residents as in-state residents for purposes of awarding scholarships was bad fiscal policy for taxpayers. Cleveland has since introduced legislation to overturn the provision. The bill is House Bill 2423.

Taxpayers, Cleveland said, should not front the costs of a program that helps out-of-state students.

“I don’t see why taxpayers should worry about it,” Cleveland said about scholarship funding. “That is a school problem, not a taxpayer problem.”

Easley releases budget document

May 9, 2006 ·

RALEIGH – The University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College System are slated to receive budget increases of more than 10 percent in a budget proposal released Tuesday by Gov. Mike Easley.

Easley’s budget announcement, which was announced during a press conference, came on the same day legislators returned to Raleigh for the start of the short session. More information about the budget is expected to be released Monday during a Joint Appropriations Committee meeting that will include a budget briefing.

In all, Easley is recommending a state budget of $18.85 billion, up from $17.2 billion for the current fiscal year. The budget request increases spending thanks in part to a $2 billion surplus in revenues.

Academic Year 2006: The Final Exam

May 4, 2006 ·

Students on campuses across North Carolina will soon take their final exams. Some have already started. Those exams are supposed to measure what a student has learned in the course, although they may do little more than increase the profits of stores that sell caffeine all night.

So if we were to take a final examination of what we learned this academic year, how would we do? What have we learned from the events that transpired since mid-August when students traded in their sun block and golf clubs for textbooks and book bags? Certainly there have been enough significant events in higher education to make us think about academe in both positive and negative lights. Reviewing for an end-of-year exam, what should we cover?

Appalachian State Moves Back Toward First Amendment

Apr 13, 2006 ·

It’s not every day that we find something within the University of North Carolina system to applaud. A recent development at Appalachian State University gives reason for us to take notice and also hope that other schools in North Carolina follow suit.

Just a few short months since the Pope Center and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education released its report on “The State of the First Amendment in the University of North Carolina System,” Appalachian State has eliminated one of its policies that was heavily criticized by the study. After reading the study, Paul Funderbunk, a graduate student and president of Appalachian State’s ACLU chapter, contacted school officials to ask that they change their policies inhibiting free speech.

Administrators saw the good sense in Funderburk’s position and repealed the school’s “harassment” policy on March 22.

Commission publishes

Apr 6, 2006 ·

The Commission on the Future of Higher Education reconvened today in Indianapolis hosting a two-day meeting. It is the fourth such meeting since Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings organized the group to examine higher education issues in America today. This week’s meeting focuses on affordability and accreditation.

As a prelude to various meetings, the Commission has released several “Issue Papers” that discuss different topics that have come before the board. It is believed that the “Issue Papers” will help the Commission in their work and ultimate policy recommendation, which could come later this year.

CCs want more money

Mar 31, 2006 ·

RALEIGH — N.C. Community College System officials are requesting more than $141 million in non-recurring spending from the General Assembly, including more than $31 million to accommodate increased enrollment.

System officials also are asking for increased funding for technology enhancements, economic development, salaries, and system-office needs. Legislators will return to Raleigh on May 9 to adjust the state budget and to deal with other issues.

Questionable Need for New ECU Dental School

Mar 30, 2006 ·

For the past year, leaders at East Carolina University have been promoting the idea that North Carolina needs second dental school, one that would be housed on the school’s campus. They have been able to rally the support of several legislators in the General Assembly, including Senate leader Marc Basnight and embattled Speaker of the House Jim Black. It is anticipated that a proposal for a new dental school will be discussed in the General Assembly’s upcoming short session.

Advocates of the plan say that there is a need for more dentists in certain areas of North Carolina, especially eastern North Carolina, and that a new school would help to alleviate that need.